11. Chew Boon Juan, Title Deed And Friends

The title deed (l) of  the shoplot (r) belonging to Chew Boon Juan with the names of Chung Thye Phin and Alma Baker

The Title deed for No 32

 While researching about Chew Boon Juan I had only read   about his immediate family and business dealings. I had   never heard of his friends.

  Hence it was a revelation that a legal document, a title   deed, dating back to 1905 that provided some flashback of   his friend and associates. The title deed referred to a shop   lot No 32 in the “Township of Sungei Raia”. 

  It was later changed to No 75 Main Road, Kg Kepayang,   the unit directly next to Ban Chin Hoh Chiew Kee, Boon   Juan's business address.  

  The original owner of No 32 was Chew Chui Houn in   1897. It was transferred to Chew Boon Juan in 1905 and   charged to several individuals.

Two very significant names of individuals stood out in the document. One was Chung Thye Phin and the other was ‘Alma Baker’ who was Chew Boon Juans business partner. Both individuals were upstanding and prominent persons.   

Chung Thye Phin was a member of the Perak State Council and the son of the Kapitan China of Perak Chung Keng Kwee.

As time would show he was a close friend. Boon Juan would build his mansion in Ipoh next to Chung Thye Phin. Years later in 1923 the two together with their wives took a 13 month world tour.

The other name on the document was the witness “Alma Baker”. Charles Alma Baker was Chew Boon Juan’s partner in the Gunong Lanno tin mine since 1903 an association which would last twenty years.

He was also one of the richest men in Kinta at the time. He initially made his first fortune doing government survey work for the many tin prospectors. Thereafter he invested in tin mining earning him his 2nd fortune and then rubber plantations where he made his 3rd fortune.

Alma Baker in all probability was the person who showed Chew Boon Juan and his brothers to invest in plantations on an estate scale.

Another document, a topographical map of Kinta, showed plantations in the vicinity of Kampong Kepayang.

The signboard of Chew Boon Juan's shop,Ban Chin Hoh Chiew Kee. at Kg Kepayang. It is now kept at Chew museum

The topographical map indicating 'Ban Chin Ho Estate'. 

One estate on the map had the name Ban Chin Ho coincidentally the same name of Chew Boon Juan’s business premises in Kampong Kepayang. The earliest date on the map indicated 1919.

While there is no evidence to prove that Chew Boon Juan ever owned the said plantation it is a fact that the brothers owned large tracts of land throughout Perak.

End